My Page: Brian Staker

<< Newer articles <<    Author Home     >> Older articles >>

Ween

Seemingly like the worst collegiate prank gone awry, after 22 years and over a dozen albums it would seem like they have to be taken seriously by now. But that’s the one thing Dean and Gene Ween have strenuously avoided the most. It’s fitting that their web page, Ween.com, greets you with an extended middle finger on the front page. But their longevity is due to their [more]

Upcoming Concerts:
THE KNOW HOW, ROGUE WAVE, STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, JOHN CORBETT, THE COUP, BILL ENGVALL, LEE ANN WOMACK, JONNY LANG, BLACK HEART PROCESSION

The Know How
http://www.theknowhow.com

We can all get behind the title of the Know How’s ‘Fuck Gas’ tour, although one wonders how it sits with their Econoline driver when it’s time to hit them up for a donation at the Top Stop. If you haven’t heard a band that provides the hyperambulative ‘ska insanity’ you have come to know and love from the genre (esp. if you live in Utah County), this is a show you can’t miss. That and the Gainesville, Florida band is ‘the only unsigned band representing the east coast.’ Help them out, west coast, send your unsigned bands back east (please!). Operators are standing by.

June 30, Captain’s Quarters

Rogue Wave
http://www.roguewavemusic.com

What does the world need with another indie rock band? But Rogue Wave’s leader is named Zach Rogue, so that gives you the cred, if he’s going to stake his stage name on the results. Kidding aside, his former band Desoto Reds, had garnered critical applause for its fresh pop stylings, so he knows his stuff. The new band is a little more rocking (that’s VERY relative in the indie music world) while somehow lilting, with a tad faux-Brit sound ala the Shins. “Geriatric at twenty years old,” Rogue laments on their latest, Descended Like Vultures, (Sub Pop) but what does he have to worry about, with such a youthful retro sensibility?

June 30, Kilby Court

String Cheese Incident, Bob Weir & Ratdog
http://www.stringcheeseincident.com
http://www.ratdog.org

Jam bands like to name themselves after food. This the most recent revelation in my in-depth study of band names across the various genres. But it makes ‘sense;’ you jam out, smoke up, get a little hungry. Sauteed Mushrooms, Leftover Salmon, Skankin Pickle. Wrong! (buzzer) on the last one. SP is a ska band. If the comestible is gyrating, it’s a ska band. Or you have graduated from weed to stronger stuff. I need to go back to beer; I think you can tell that whatever I’ve been using to write this stuff isn’t working out for me. SCI incorporates bluegrass, salsa, funk, you name it into the rhythmic mix. One might say, everything except restraint. They actually think this type of thing is daring. Well, if you go to school in Boulder, don’t forget to take a hackey sack or three. That about says it all. This dude Bob Weir used to be in a group, I think it was called the Graceful Dude or something.

June 30, SaltAir

Also appearing:

July 1-2: Morrison, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheater)

John Corbett
http://www.johncorbettband.com

Jack of several trades, John Corbett is known for his roles in the TV series Northern Exposure and Sex and the City, and the films My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Raising Helen. But he always clamored to make his musical voice heard as well as his theatrical one. He finally got the shot on his self-titled debut with lots of great support, including Black Crowes’ drummer Steve Gorman and numerous veteran session hands. No surprise, his musical persona doesn’t differ from the down-to-earth yet wryly humorous DJ Chris Stevens on Northern Exposure, with songs by old master hands like Hal Ketchum and Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s songwriting partner. In the context of a “Country Fest,” he adds depth and defiance of the stereotype of country not being a music for contemplative people.

July 1, Country Fest

The Coup


Hip-hop band the Coup first gained mainstream notoriety in 2001 for their album cover depicting the World Trade Center detonating, which was pulled before the album was released. They had already shown a prevarication toward violent imagery, their album Kill My Landlord taking the expression perhaps a little more seriously than the Eddie Murphy bit. Five years after the reworked WTC cover album was released as Party Music, still a little inopportune, their Pick a Bigger Weapon reveals them as trying to revive the political activist arm of hip-hop music, which has not been very active since the decline of gangsta rap.

July 1, Ego’s

Also appearing:

July 2: Durango, CO (Abbey Theatre)

Bill Engvall
www.billengvall.com

We all know how nothing expresses our country’s great principle of freedom like the explosion of incendiary devices. If you didn’t, bwah, y’all better hawl yerass down to Rice Eccles. Except that it’s been cancelled, due to slow ticket sales. Apparently the competition down south in Provo (see next preview) was too steep. Everybody knows they’re more patriotic in Utah County anyway; why, they’re practically Commies in Salt Lake with that socialist mayor Rocky. But never fear, they’ll have plenty of stuff to blow up in Provo. They’ll blow it up real good too.

July 1, Freedom Blast

Lee Ann Womack, Keni Thomas

Instead of a comedian as headliner, Provo’s celebration of ‘Three Days Before the Actual Independence Day’ (which can’t be celebrated on a workday to throw employers off balance with their dependence on the busy beehive of workers which epitomize the state symbol) or a Sunday, duh! That leaves the choices pretty limited, so instead of loading (I almost typed ‘louding’) up your kids in the minivan to go to the mall, head to the stadium named after the football prophet of God’s University. Even though Jesus visited America, and how did he achieve that? Did he burrow his way through the molten core of the earth, eluding Satan and his minions, or blink himself there like some television witch? Still, you can’t celebrate America’s birthday on the Lord’s day. Lee Ann Womack is one of the new school of country divas of the last decade, combining city sophisticated good looks (all teeth present) with a sensitivity and romance not always present in the genre. Upstart Keni Thomas opens, but let’s not kid who about what the real star is every year in the ‘Stadium of Fire.’ Yep. It’s the explosions.

July 1, LaVell Edwards Stadium

Also appearing:

June 30: Camp Verde, AZ (Cliff Castle Casino)

Jonny Lang
http://www.jonnylang.com

What happens to a precocious blues guitar tyke after he’s outgrown his Underoos? He doesn’t turn into John Mayer, babbling about how he wants your daughter, and her body is a wonderland (a line that never works, by the way). Unless he is John Mayer. But then he can play a lick or two himself. His last album, Long Time Coming, was released three years ago, and offered an odd change of pace with a swerve toward hard rock, perhaps to appear to a wider audience. Red Butte always fits one or two blues artists into their summer calendar, to appease the yuppie white people with their coolers full of wine coolers. But he still can play a lick or two.

July 1, Red Butte Garden

Also appearing:

June 30: Reno, NV (Reno Hilton)
July 4: Morrison, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheater)

Black Heart Procession
http://www.blackheartprocession.com

Though it’d be a great name for a goth band, this San Diego (are there Goths in San Diego? Probably just like anywhere else) indie band still has a dark side. But rather than dreary doldrums, they dress it up with unique instrumentation like musical saw and archaic organ. Their intense work culminates with this year’s The Spell, about as incantatory and seductive as a ‘glum band’ can get.

July 2, Urban Lounge

Also appearing:

July 1: Boise, ID (Neurolux)
July 3: Las Vegas, NV (Beauty Bar) [more]

Upcoming Concerts:
THE KNOW HOW, ROGUE WAVE, STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, JOHN CORBETT, THE COUP, BILL ENGVALL, LEE ANN WOMACK, JONNY LANG, BLACK HEART PROCESSION

The Know How
http://www.theknowhow.com

We can all get behind the title of the Know How’s ‘Fuck Gas’ tour, although one wonders how it sits with their Econoline driver when it’s time to hit them up for a donation at the Top Stop. If you haven’t heard a band that provides the hyperambulative ‘ska insanity’ you have come to know and love from the genre (esp. if you live in Utah County), this is a show you can’t miss. That and the Gainesville, Florida band is ‘the only unsigned band representing the east coast.’ Help them out, west coast, send your unsigned bands back east (please!). Operators are standing by.

June 30, Captain’s Quarters

Rogue Wave
http://www.roguewavemusic.com

What does the world need with another indie rock band? But Rogue Wave’s leader is named Zach Rogue, so that gives you the cred, if he’s going to stake his stage name on the results. Kidding aside, his former band Desoto Reds, had garnered critical applause for its fresh pop stylings, so he knows his stuff. The new band is a little more rocking (that’s VERY relative in the indie music world) while somehow lilting, with a tad faux-Brit sound ala the Shins. “Geriatric at twenty years old,” Rogue laments on their latest, Descended Like Vultures, (Sub Pop) but what does he have to worry about, with such a youthful retro sensibility?

June 30, Kilby Court

String Cheese Incident, Bob Weir & Ratdog
http://www.stringcheeseincident.com
http://www.ratdog.org

Jam bands like to name themselves after food. This the most recent revelation in my in-depth study of band names across the various genres. But it makes ‘sense;’ you jam out, smoke up, get a little hungry. Sauteed Mushrooms, Leftover Salmon, Skankin Pickle. Wrong! (buzzer) on the last one. SP is a ska band. If the comestible is gyrating, it’s a ska band. Or you have graduated from weed to stronger stuff. I need to go back to beer; I think you can tell that whatever I’ve been using to write this stuff isn’t working out for me. SCI incorporates bluegrass, salsa, funk, you name it into the rhythmic mix. One might say, everything except restraint. They actually think this type of thing is daring. Well, if you go to school in Boulder, don’t forget to take a hackey sack or three. That about says it all. This dude Bob Weir used to be in a group, I think it was called the Graceful Dude or something.

June 30, SaltAir

Also appearing:

July 1-2: Morrison, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheater)

John Corbett
http://www.johncorbettband.com

Jack of several trades, John Corbett is known for his roles in the TV series Northern Exposure and Sex and the City, and the films My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Raising Helen. But he always clamored to make his musical voice heard as well as his theatrical one. He finally got the shot on his self-titled debut with lots of great support, including Black Crowes’ drummer Steve Gorman and numerous veteran session hands. No surprise, his musical persona doesn’t differ from the down-to-earth yet wryly humorous DJ Chris Stevens on Northern Exposure, with songs by old master hands like Hal Ketchum and Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s songwriting partner. In the context of a “Country Fest,” he adds depth and defiance of the stereotype of country not being a music for contemplative people.

July 1, Country Fest

The Coup


Hip-hop band the Coup first gained mainstream notoriety in 2001 for their album cover depicting the World Trade Center detonating, which was pulled before the album was released. They had already shown a prevarication toward violent imagery, their album Kill My Landlord taking the expression perhaps a little more seriously than the Eddie Murphy bit. Five years after the reworked WTC cover album was released as Party Music, still a little inopportune, their Pick a Bigger Weapon reveals them as trying to revive the political activist arm of hip-hop music, which has not been very active since the decline of gangsta rap.

July 1, Ego’s

Also appearing:

July 2: Durango, CO (Abbey Theatre)

Bill Engvall
www.billengvall.com

We all know how nothing expresses our country’s great principle of freedom like the explosion of incendiary devices. If you didn’t, bwah, y’all better hawl yerass down to Rice Eccles. Except that it’s been cancelled, due to slow ticket sales. Apparently the competition down south in Provo (see next preview) was too steep. Everybody knows they’re more patriotic in Utah County anyway; why, they’re practically Commies in Salt Lake with that socialist mayor Rocky. But never fear, they’ll have plenty of stuff to blow up in Provo. They’ll blow it up real good too.

July 1, Freedom Blast

Lee Ann Womack, Keni Thomas

Instead of a comedian as headliner, Provo’s celebration of ‘Three Days Before the Actual Independence Day’ (which can’t be celebrated on a workday to throw employers off balance with their dependence on the busy beehive of workers which epitomize the state symbol) or a Sunday, duh! That leaves the choices pretty limited, so instead of loading (I almost typed ‘louding’) up your kids in the minivan to go to the mall, head to the stadium named after the football prophet of God’s University. Even though Jesus visited America, and how did he achieve that? Did he burrow his way through the molten core of the earth, eluding Satan and his minions, or blink himself there like some television witch? Still, you can’t celebrate America’s birthday on the Lord’s day. Lee Ann Womack is one of the new school of country divas of the last decade, combining city sophisticated good looks (all teeth present) with a sensitivity and romance not always present in the genre. Upstart Keni Thomas opens, but let’s not kid who about what the real star is every year in the ‘Stadium of Fire.’ Yep. It’s the explosions.

July 1, LaVell Edwards Stadium

Also appearing:

June 30: Camp Verde, AZ (Cliff Castle Casino)

Jonny Lang
http://www.jonnylang.com

What happens to a precocious blues guitar tyke after he’s outgrown his Underoos? He doesn’t turn into John Mayer, babbling about how he wants your daughter, and her body is a wonderland (a line that never works, by the way). Unless he is John Mayer. But then he can play a lick or two himself. His last album, Long Time Coming, was released three years ago, and offered an odd change of pace with a swerve toward hard rock, perhaps to appear to a wider audience. Red Butte always fits one or two blues artists into their summer calendar, to appease the yuppie white people with their coolers full of wine coolers. But he still can play a lick or two.

July 1, Red Butte Garden

Also appearing:

June 30: Reno, NV (Reno Hilton)
July 4: Morrison, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheater)

Black Heart Procession
http://www.blackheartprocession.com

Though it’d be a great name for a goth band, this San Diego (are there Goths in San Diego? Probably just like anywhere else) indie band still has a dark side. But rather than dreary doldrums, they dress it up with unique instrumentation like musical saw and archaic organ. Their intense work culminates with this year’s The Spell, about as incantatory and seductive as a ‘glum band’ can get.

July 2, Urban Lounge

Also appearing:

July 1: Boise, ID (Neurolux)
July 3: Las Vegas, NV (Beauty Bar) [more]

Upcoming Concerts:
THE KNOW HOW, ROGUE WAVE, STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, JOHN CORBETT, THE COUP, BILL ENGVALL, LEE ANN WOMACK, JONNY LANG, BLACK HEART PROCESSION

The Know How
http://www.theknowhow.com

We can all get behind the title of the Know How’s ‘Fuck Gas’ tour, although one wonders how it sits with their Econoline driver when it’s time to hit them up for a donation at the Top Stop. If you haven’t heard a band that provides the hyperambulative ‘ska insanity’ you have come to know and love from the genre (esp. if you live in Utah County), this is a show you can’t miss. That and the Gainesville, Florida band is ‘the only unsigned band representing the east coast.’ Help them out, west coast, send your unsigned bands back east (please!). Operators are standing by.

June 30, Captain’s Quarters

Rogue Wave
http://www.roguewavemusic.com

What does the world need with another indie rock band? But Rogue Wave’s leader is named Zach Rogue, so that gives you the cred, if he’s going to stake his stage name on the results. Kidding aside, his former band Desoto Reds, had garnered critical applause for its fresh pop stylings, so he knows his stuff. The new band is a little more rocking (that’s VERY relative in the indie music world) while somehow lilting, with a tad faux-Brit sound ala the Shins. “Geriatric at twenty years old,” Rogue laments on their latest, Descended Like Vultures, (Sub Pop) but what does he have to worry about, with such a youthful retro sensibility?

June 30, Kilby Court

String Cheese Incident, Bob Weir & Ratdog
http://www.stringcheeseincident.com
http://www.ratdog.org

Jam bands like to name themselves after food. This the most recent revelation in my in-depth study of band names across the various genres. But it makes ‘sense;’ you jam out, smoke up, get a little hungry. Sauteed Mushrooms, Leftover Salmon, Skankin Pickle. Wrong! (buzzer) on the last one. SP is a ska band. If the comestible is gyrating, it’s a ska band. Or you have graduated from weed to stronger stuff. I need to go back to beer; I think you can tell that whatever I’ve been using to write this stuff isn’t working out for me. SCI incorporates bluegrass, salsa, funk, you name it into the rhythmic mix. One might say, everything except restraint. They actually think this type of thing is daring. Well, if you go to school in Boulder, don’t forget to take a hackey sack or three. That about says it all. This dude Bob Weir used to be in a group, I think it was called the Graceful Dude or something.

June 30, SaltAir

Also appearing:

July 1-2: Morrison, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheater)

John Corbett
http://www.johncorbettband.com

Jack of several trades, John Corbett is known for his roles in the TV series Northern Exposure and Sex and the City, and the films My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Raising Helen. But he always clamored to make his musical voice heard as well as his theatrical one. He finally got the shot on his self-titled debut with lots of great support, including Black Crowes’ drummer Steve Gorman and numerous veteran session hands. No surprise, his musical persona doesn’t differ from the down-to-earth yet wryly humorous DJ Chris Stevens on Northern Exposure, with songs by old master hands like Hal Ketchum and Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s songwriting partner. In the context of a “Country Fest,” he adds depth and defiance of the stereotype of country not being a music for contemplative people.

July 1, Country Fest

The Coup


Hip-hop band the Coup first gained mainstream notoriety in 2001 for their album cover depicting the World Trade Center detonating, which was pulled before the album was released. They had already shown a prevarication toward violent imagery, their album Kill My Landlord taking the expression perhaps a little more seriously than the Eddie Murphy bit. Five years after the reworked WTC cover album was released as Party Music, still a little inopportune, their Pick a Bigger Weapon reveals them as trying to revive the political activist arm of hip-hop music, which has not been very active since the decline of gangsta rap.

July 1, Ego’s

Also appearing:

July 2: Durango, CO (Abbey Theatre)

Bill Engvall
www.billengvall.com

We all know how nothing expresses our country’s great principle of freedom like the explosion of incendiary devices. If you didn’t, bwah, y’all better hawl yerass down to Rice Eccles. Except that it’s been cancelled, due to slow ticket sales. Apparently the competition down south in Provo (see next preview) was too steep. Everybody knows they’re more patriotic in Utah County anyway; why, they’re practically Commies in Salt Lake with that socialist mayor Rocky. But never fear, they’ll have plenty of stuff to blow up in Provo. They’ll blow it up real good too.

July 1, Freedom Blast

Lee Ann Womack, Keni Thomas

Instead of a comedian as headliner, Provo’s celebration of ‘Three Days Before the Actual Independence Day’ (which can’t be celebrated on a workday to throw employers off balance with their dependence on the busy beehive of workers which epitomize the state symbol) or a Sunday, duh! That leaves the choices pretty limited, so instead of loading (I almost typed ‘louding’) up your kids in the minivan to go to the mall, head to the stadium named after the football prophet of God’s University. Even though Jesus visited America, and how did he achieve that? Did he burrow his way through the molten core of the earth, eluding Satan and his minions, or blink himself there like some television witch? Still, you can’t celebrate America’s birthday on the Lord’s day. Lee Ann Womack is one of the new school of country divas of the last decade, combining city sophisticated good looks (all teeth present) with a sensitivity and romance not always present in the genre. Upstart Keni Thomas opens, but let’s not kid who about what the real star is every year in the ‘Stadium of Fire.’ Yep. It’s the explosions.

July 1, LaVell Edwards Stadium

Also appearing:

June 30: Camp Verde, AZ (Cliff Castle Casino)

Jonny Lang
http://www.jonnylang.com

What happens to a precocious blues guitar tyke after he’s outgrown his Underoos? He doesn’t turn into John Mayer, babbling about how he wants your daughter, and her body is a wonderland (a line that never works, by the way). Unless he is John Mayer. But then he can play a lick or two himself. His last album, Long Time Coming, was released three years ago, and offered an odd change of pace with a swerve toward hard rock, perhaps to appear to a wider audience. Red Butte always fits one or two blues artists into their summer calendar, to appease the yuppie white people with their coolers full of wine coolers. But he still can play a lick or two.

July 1, Red Butte Garden

Also appearing:

June 30: Reno, NV (Reno Hilton)
July 4: Morrison, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheater)

Black Heart Procession
http://www.blackheartprocession.com

Though it’d be a great name for a goth band, this San Diego (are there Goths in San Diego? Probably just like anywhere else) indie band still has a dark side. But rather than dreary doldrums, they dress it up with unique instrumentation like musical saw and archaic organ. Their intense work culminates with this year’s The Spell, about as incantatory and seductive as a ‘glum band’ can get.

July 2, Urban Lounge

Also appearing:

July 1: Boise, ID (Neurolux)
July 3: Las Vegas, NV (Beauty Bar) [more]

UPCOMING CONCERTS

Yonder Mountain String Band

Though in their first decade, Yonder Mountain String Band harks back to classic folk/bluegrass sounds, and when I say ‘classic,’ I mean the early sixties folk revival, since those well-worn genres could both technically be traced back to the 1800’s. Both in their wistful melodicism and faux naïve cover art, they are really reminiscent of early sixties folk groups, yet also sharing an indie pop sensibility not unlike, say, the Shins. This is what makes them more than just another retro combo, talented musicians though they may be. It’s the conflict between the experienced voice of the typical pop song protagonist of a song like “Sidewalk Stars,” the opener of their new self-titled release and the innocence portrayed in the eyes of an angst-ridden innocent in “I Ain’t Been Myself In Years.” Perhaps tellingly, the former is in more typical pop instrumentation of guitar, drum and bass, while the latter is firmly anchored in sad yet somehow joyous banjo picking. Then at times the two combine on “How Bout You,” that could have come from a Golden Smog session outtake, with banjo picking and electric guitar solo simultaneously. And their ragged harmonies could be the Band itself. Oh yes, cause to rejoice.

June 21, Port O' Call [more]

UPCOMING CONCERTS

Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons

Local son turned Portland music scenester (that could describe a lot of people, no?) Jerry Joseph returns with his crowd-pleasing jam band-influenced singer/songwritering. Aside from a captivating live show, Joseph has been no slouch in the studio either, with last year’s Into the Lovely (Cosmo Sex School) the last in a long line of releases. One odd thing about the group: bassist Jr. Ruppell founded Salt Lake punk magazine SLUG in the late 80’s, so he’s seemingly the least likely musician to join a band anywhere near jam territory. San Francisco jam band Zero has added Joseph to their lineup again for their tour.

June 15-16, Ego’s

Also appearing:

June 14: Denver, CO (Quixote’s True Blue)
June 18: Victor, ID (Knotty Pine)
June 19: Boise, ID (Neurolux) [more]

UPCOMING CONCERTS

The Beach Boys

What can I say about the Beach Boys that hasn’t already been said, or written, or sung? It sounds corny to say this, but they symbolize so many things: Surfing, adolescence, California, summertime, and even in a way, America as a whole. Jean Baudrillard, the peripatetic French philosopher fascinated with all things American, would have a field day with them. And they even have a Utah connection, with their song “Salt Lake City” and the theme song for HBO’s polygamy drama, Big Love. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that the Beach Boys really revolutionized pop songwriting with their approach to harmony and melodic structure, from their early surfing tunes that seem elementary, to later numbers like “God Only Knows” that seems like a slice of ambrosia, an absolute epiphany. But even songs that don’t reach for the ephemeral, like “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Good Vibrations” with their simpler themes, add a complexity and sophistication that the pop song hadn’t really seen before. A testament to their endurance was Broadway’s Good Vibrations, a musical featuring the songs of the group in 2004. Whether you surf or not, this music has been the soundtrack of a good deal of our lives.

June 10, Gallivan Center [more]

UPCOMING CONCERTS

Vaux

Denver metal act, which has in the past often been pinch-hitters, steps to the plate on their own this time. It’s about time, as they have earned it, paid their dues and all the applicable clichés. Who does a metal band pay dues to; and who collects them? At any rate, they maintain snarling vocals and jagged rhythms with more than a nod to punk; if they have to keep up membership in two genres of music they’d better get out there and hit the streets. And then ”Cones” from their latest, Are You With Me, sounds a hell of a lot like Radiohead with its somber synths, faux (rhymes with “Vaux?”)-British accent and ominous lyric “What’s the worst that can happen?” Sometimes there’s a fine line between musical diversity and stylistic confusion, and it’s treading that thread narrow as a kite string that makes this band fascinating.

June 6, Club Boomva (Ogden) [more]

UPCOMING CONCERTS

Matt Wertz

Kansas City native Matt Wertz left behind a yen to design sneakers to join the recent parade of singer-songwriters. To be more exact, slightly disheveled guys who write sensitive songs the chicks dig, lyrics in a scrawl across the album cover as though they came to him spontaneously on his newest EP, Today & Tomorrow. He brings some novelty to a genre populated by Jason Mraz and Gavin DeGraw.

June 3, Kilby Court

Also appearing:

June 2: Denver, CO (Bluebird Theater) [more]

UPCOMING CONCERTS

The Fall

The Fall is one of the most storied British bands of the last 30 years, and their longevity, lineup turbulence and difficulty to categorize makes it justly so. But they have also been one of the most incredibly influential groups, if moreso on the Brits than on this side of the musical seas, but indie rock of any stripe wouldn’t be the same without them. The one constant is acerbic, often alcohol-laden frontman Mark E. Smith, whose thick North England accent is one reason they haven’t been a huge hit stateside. Coming out of the artsy post-punk movement in the late 70’s that produced Wire and XTC, the Fall has always been far darker and angrier than either of those, in accordance with Smith’s distrust of art as well as other institutions. The paranoia put him right in line with the punk movement, though punk audiences sometimes didn’t know how to react to his experimental ‘noise rock’ tendencies, the specter of chaos always lurking in a Fall show. The armfuls of albums released since that time have as a whole created a remarkable body of work, not least because of his lyrical interests, ranging from European history (Live at the Salem Witch Trials), rants against the mendacity of everyday British life, from truck drivers to football fans, to literature, from the out-there sci-fi of Philip K. Dick to existentialists like Albert Camus, after whose novel The Fall the
band was named. Once the band was discovered by American audiences it was enormously influential on bands like Pavement, to the point that their label Matador signed the Fall for US releases in the mid-nineties, and Pavement’s singer Stephen Malkmus adopted some of Smith’s vocal snarl, to the latter’s
consternation. The Fall is a bit like the Velvet Underground; in America, at least, they haven’t been heard by that many people, but everyone who did
started a band. They were garage rock, if your garage is in the industrial din of Manchester, and you rehearse in a shack constantly threatening to
collapse into the ground. Smith is one of those singularly British eccentrics like Genesis P. Orridge that come along every once in a while and change our entire conception of a given art form. To even attempt a comprehensive catalog of all their releases and labels, not to mention personnel, is a foolhardy and intimidating endeavor for the space we have here; suffice to say their latest, last year’s Fall Heads Roll (Narnack) is a good a place to start as any. As the British say, Mind your head.

May 25, The Depot [more]

<< Newer articles <<    Author Home     >> Older articles >>